Saturday, August 1, 2009
46! leaving for panama city.
leaving my host fam today... which is so sad!! theyre driving me to the bus station in a couple hours. from there, ill head to panama city to stay in a hostel with the other volunteers. my flights at 2 tomorrow. should be home around 10pm (lets hope i make my connecting flight)... see you all soon!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
day 44... last day of classes
i finished teaching today. went to kindergarden in the morning, and my usual primary school in the afternoon. we had all the parties yesterday and today. the turkey-making went really well, and so did the worksheet i made. everyone loved finding the states where they know people. and of course the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were a big hit. at the end of the day one of the students said, ´if you like english, raise your hand´... of course this was in spanish, but not important. they like english now! i got so many kisses and hugs today. one class attacked me with kisses, which was great and was super cute, but they had just eaten cheetos!! i washed my cheeks for a while. i got so many cards and a couple of gifts. i think i did make class fun for the six weeks. i dont know how much english they learned, definitely some, not a ton, but i did change the teaching style at least for these weeks, and the students learned that learning can be fun. (i know, thats cliche...) anyways, now that im done in the panama school system, here´s my review:
1. the discipline system:
while the teachers yell, even scream at the kids, there are no actual consequences besides hurt feelings for a couple of minutes. the teachers yell at kids directly, trying to embarrass them, and i have even heard a teacher call a student stupid. not the way to go, in my (and most peoples´)opinion. while the yelling may have some threats, such as point deductions on quizzes, or missing recess, they never ever follow through. when recess is taken away from a kid for being bad, the student never actually has to stay in. so clearly, there is no reinforcement. the kids know that nothing will happen.
rewards are unheard of. so there are no motives for the students to act well. even the small things that i´ve done here made the kids smile or do better. like, im talking really small things. i drew a smiley face on their paper if they got less than two things wrong. usually they just receive a check mark. the kids wanted that smiley face on their papers! definitely not a hard thing for anyone to do. other times, ill give the students some high-fives for getting an answer right, or even just participating without screaming the answer and giving everyone a headache. stickers are a high reward. i didnt give out as many stickers as i initially thought i would, because the kids really are so crazy. but id like to believe its not really their fault. its the culture. the kids are crazy in the school system. they really are. there is no motive and no reason for the kids to act well.
2. teaching techniques:
the only technique--copying, copying, and copying more from the white board. the kids have a notebook for each subject. the teachers will write paragraphs on the board, the students spend the hour copying it. (it takes an hour for a couple paragraphs because the teacher has to stop for a half hour to yell for a while) when theyre done copying, the students take it home for the night to memorize. usually there is a test the next day. there´s never a cumulative final, so i betcha there is no real learning for the long term. to give the teachers some credit, the kids are learning how to make this method work. and they dont know any other ways. but it was a shame for me to see. i know tehre are so many other things to do in a classroom, and im not even a teacher! sometimes tehre will be a practice test before the real test, but the students know the teacher wont look at it, so they dont study unless its a real test. theres no such thing as a popquiz to keep the students motivated to study. there are no games. there are no discussions. there are no opinions within the classroom. yes, they are young for discussions, but theres no room for questioning. in fact, questioning is bad.
heres what i did: i convinced the english teacher that she could teach the first half of the lesson for copying and such, and then i would reinforce her teaching with games and other activities. i was lucky to have a teacher that really agreed, and wanted to learn new techniques. i did activities that got them moving out of their seat. of course, many times they did get too crazy with these games, but the stickers came in handy at this time. if worst came to worst, the loud kids had to run a lap around the school to get their energy out, and then were not allowed to play until the next game. rule i taught the teachers: dont make the crazy energetic kids sit out of recess...they need to get their energy out, not keep it in. anyways, i did games such as bingo, hot potato, musical chairs, fly swatter, blindfold guessing, coloring projects, etc. all of these are new in the classroom. i hope that these ideas will spread as different teachers hear about them.
3. ¨the special ed department¨:
this name is in quotes, becuase really there is no department for special ed. i think that its great that the school system does recognize that there are students with special cases and mental illnesses, but the system has no idea how to handle these kids. therefore, they think every kid with a disability has the same problem. for instance, a student with adhd and a student with some level of autism will be treated the same way. a student who has a speech impediment is thought to have learning problems, not speaking problems. so there is one person who will walk around the school checking on these students. she might write their notes for them or read aloud the board. but she never helps them overcome any obstacle or tries to include them in the class. these kids are given different tests (basically just a shorter version of the original) because they assume none of these kids can process the information, but it is obvious to me that a lot of these students could very well process a lot more information that the teachers think. but they are never forced to take the hard version of the test, and so they use their disability to their advantage by slacking or leaving the classroom to walk around. when i help these kids individually, i see that they can read and write and process information.
i saw one extreme case where a clearly autistic boy was put in a desk in the corner of the classroom facing the back wall, because the teaching didnt want him distracting the other students with his noises. of course, i suppose it is amazing that this boy´s family even sends him to school at all.
the school doesnt have the resouces about special education, and so i understand why the program is how it is. i think panama is liberal enough to want to do better if they knew that they could. i believe they would consider bettering the system if they knew how. they just dont have the resources.
4. teaching behavior:
...i noticed this behavior right away. and it still bothers me after my six weeks teaching. the teachers will talk about the students and their failures openly in front of other students and teachers. if a kid answers something wrong, the english teacher will look at me, usually roll her eyes, and make a comment. i learned not to make eye contact with her when a student does something wrong. this very obviously makes the kids feel horrible, i can tell. at least the english teacher will talk to me in english, so the kids dont understand, but the other staff members dont have this option.
other than that, the teachers act as if they are there for themselves, not for the students. they will talk to other teachers in the middle of class if another teacher comes in. when i yell at all the students to stop talking, the english teacher will continue talking to whichever other teacher is in the room, knowing the rule does not apply to her. and it kills me!! their conversation is too loud and the kids have no respect for the rules when even the teacher is not following it. i have had so many urges to yell at the teacher, but i have to remind myself its the culture, and definitely not my place to yell!
anyways, i know i am crushing the school system right now. but obviously there is a stable system, and thats great. most of the families i have met take education very seriously. panamanians know that knowledge is important, and the parents will crack down on their kids to study. i mean, my host siblings are ALWAYS studying really. so while the system doesnt have the resouces to change immediately, i think that panama will make advancements in the future, as soon as the money and time comes along.
i think the next group of english volunteers for learning enterprises should really teach the teachers more than teach the kids. the teachers i met were eager for suggestions. i know there are some teachers who are too proud to want to learn more, and thats fine. teach the ones who want to learn. and if learning enterprises can teach these teachers some new ideas every year, soon enough the classroom will look completely different. i cant teach a ton of english in six short weeks. but i definitely was able to teach a handful of new activities to the english teacher.
i did love my kids, despite how ridiculously crazy they were a lot of the time. and i do think that learning enterprises should continue to come to panama. its a greatly developing country with a lot of potential.
1. the discipline system:
while the teachers yell, even scream at the kids, there are no actual consequences besides hurt feelings for a couple of minutes. the teachers yell at kids directly, trying to embarrass them, and i have even heard a teacher call a student stupid. not the way to go, in my (and most peoples´)opinion. while the yelling may have some threats, such as point deductions on quizzes, or missing recess, they never ever follow through. when recess is taken away from a kid for being bad, the student never actually has to stay in. so clearly, there is no reinforcement. the kids know that nothing will happen.
rewards are unheard of. so there are no motives for the students to act well. even the small things that i´ve done here made the kids smile or do better. like, im talking really small things. i drew a smiley face on their paper if they got less than two things wrong. usually they just receive a check mark. the kids wanted that smiley face on their papers! definitely not a hard thing for anyone to do. other times, ill give the students some high-fives for getting an answer right, or even just participating without screaming the answer and giving everyone a headache. stickers are a high reward. i didnt give out as many stickers as i initially thought i would, because the kids really are so crazy. but id like to believe its not really their fault. its the culture. the kids are crazy in the school system. they really are. there is no motive and no reason for the kids to act well.
2. teaching techniques:
the only technique--copying, copying, and copying more from the white board. the kids have a notebook for each subject. the teachers will write paragraphs on the board, the students spend the hour copying it. (it takes an hour for a couple paragraphs because the teacher has to stop for a half hour to yell for a while) when theyre done copying, the students take it home for the night to memorize. usually there is a test the next day. there´s never a cumulative final, so i betcha there is no real learning for the long term. to give the teachers some credit, the kids are learning how to make this method work. and they dont know any other ways. but it was a shame for me to see. i know tehre are so many other things to do in a classroom, and im not even a teacher! sometimes tehre will be a practice test before the real test, but the students know the teacher wont look at it, so they dont study unless its a real test. theres no such thing as a popquiz to keep the students motivated to study. there are no games. there are no discussions. there are no opinions within the classroom. yes, they are young for discussions, but theres no room for questioning. in fact, questioning is bad.
heres what i did: i convinced the english teacher that she could teach the first half of the lesson for copying and such, and then i would reinforce her teaching with games and other activities. i was lucky to have a teacher that really agreed, and wanted to learn new techniques. i did activities that got them moving out of their seat. of course, many times they did get too crazy with these games, but the stickers came in handy at this time. if worst came to worst, the loud kids had to run a lap around the school to get their energy out, and then were not allowed to play until the next game. rule i taught the teachers: dont make the crazy energetic kids sit out of recess...they need to get their energy out, not keep it in. anyways, i did games such as bingo, hot potato, musical chairs, fly swatter, blindfold guessing, coloring projects, etc. all of these are new in the classroom. i hope that these ideas will spread as different teachers hear about them.
3. ¨the special ed department¨:
this name is in quotes, becuase really there is no department for special ed. i think that its great that the school system does recognize that there are students with special cases and mental illnesses, but the system has no idea how to handle these kids. therefore, they think every kid with a disability has the same problem. for instance, a student with adhd and a student with some level of autism will be treated the same way. a student who has a speech impediment is thought to have learning problems, not speaking problems. so there is one person who will walk around the school checking on these students. she might write their notes for them or read aloud the board. but she never helps them overcome any obstacle or tries to include them in the class. these kids are given different tests (basically just a shorter version of the original) because they assume none of these kids can process the information, but it is obvious to me that a lot of these students could very well process a lot more information that the teachers think. but they are never forced to take the hard version of the test, and so they use their disability to their advantage by slacking or leaving the classroom to walk around. when i help these kids individually, i see that they can read and write and process information.
i saw one extreme case where a clearly autistic boy was put in a desk in the corner of the classroom facing the back wall, because the teaching didnt want him distracting the other students with his noises. of course, i suppose it is amazing that this boy´s family even sends him to school at all.
the school doesnt have the resouces about special education, and so i understand why the program is how it is. i think panama is liberal enough to want to do better if they knew that they could. i believe they would consider bettering the system if they knew how. they just dont have the resources.
4. teaching behavior:
...i noticed this behavior right away. and it still bothers me after my six weeks teaching. the teachers will talk about the students and their failures openly in front of other students and teachers. if a kid answers something wrong, the english teacher will look at me, usually roll her eyes, and make a comment. i learned not to make eye contact with her when a student does something wrong. this very obviously makes the kids feel horrible, i can tell. at least the english teacher will talk to me in english, so the kids dont understand, but the other staff members dont have this option.
other than that, the teachers act as if they are there for themselves, not for the students. they will talk to other teachers in the middle of class if another teacher comes in. when i yell at all the students to stop talking, the english teacher will continue talking to whichever other teacher is in the room, knowing the rule does not apply to her. and it kills me!! their conversation is too loud and the kids have no respect for the rules when even the teacher is not following it. i have had so many urges to yell at the teacher, but i have to remind myself its the culture, and definitely not my place to yell!
anyways, i know i am crushing the school system right now. but obviously there is a stable system, and thats great. most of the families i have met take education very seriously. panamanians know that knowledge is important, and the parents will crack down on their kids to study. i mean, my host siblings are ALWAYS studying really. so while the system doesnt have the resouces to change immediately, i think that panama will make advancements in the future, as soon as the money and time comes along.
i think the next group of english volunteers for learning enterprises should really teach the teachers more than teach the kids. the teachers i met were eager for suggestions. i know there are some teachers who are too proud to want to learn more, and thats fine. teach the ones who want to learn. and if learning enterprises can teach these teachers some new ideas every year, soon enough the classroom will look completely different. i cant teach a ton of english in six short weeks. but i definitely was able to teach a handful of new activities to the english teacher.
i did love my kids, despite how ridiculously crazy they were a lot of the time. and i do think that learning enterprises should continue to come to panama. its a greatly developing country with a lot of potential.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
day 42
im nearing the end. i cant believe it. but its finally starting to feel like it. everyones saying bye, and its a lot sadder than i thought it would be!
but anyways, yesterday i got a manicure. a french manicure. and it cost me 2 dollars, plus fifty cents for a tip. and it was exactly the same as any manicure at home. crazy USA. then i went to school and did my usual teaching. fue un dia normal.
today i woke up and spent the day with my host cousins. they came from chitre to las tablas to see me, and theyre a lot of fun. one speaks pretty good english, and the other knows only a couple of words. but we found a lot to talk about. and im gonna miss them a lot!
the english teacher was sick, and so tehre were no english classes today. but i did one class on my own because it was their last day with me. so i threw a party. i made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them!! such a simple thing, yet panama has not yet discovered it. they were a big hit. other kids brought more food. and we had music. and we made turkeys out of our hands and feet (i explained thanksgiving to them), and then we played games with balloons. good day. of course they were crazy wild though and i doubt ill have a voice after the 4 parties tomorrow. hugging those students good bye was so saddd!!
tomorrow should be another normal day. teaching and parties and hanging with the fam. i have to make 90 pb and j´s for the parties tomorrow, and imnot looking foward to that. (they only get half a sandwich, i dont have endless money. it might end up being a quarter sandwich even!)
anyways... hasta luego!
but anyways, yesterday i got a manicure. a french manicure. and it cost me 2 dollars, plus fifty cents for a tip. and it was exactly the same as any manicure at home. crazy USA. then i went to school and did my usual teaching. fue un dia normal.
today i woke up and spent the day with my host cousins. they came from chitre to las tablas to see me, and theyre a lot of fun. one speaks pretty good english, and the other knows only a couple of words. but we found a lot to talk about. and im gonna miss them a lot!
the english teacher was sick, and so tehre were no english classes today. but i did one class on my own because it was their last day with me. so i threw a party. i made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them!! such a simple thing, yet panama has not yet discovered it. they were a big hit. other kids brought more food. and we had music. and we made turkeys out of our hands and feet (i explained thanksgiving to them), and then we played games with balloons. good day. of course they were crazy wild though and i doubt ill have a voice after the 4 parties tomorrow. hugging those students good bye was so saddd!!
tomorrow should be another normal day. teaching and parties and hanging with the fam. i have to make 90 pb and j´s for the parties tomorrow, and imnot looking foward to that. (they only get half a sandwich, i dont have endless money. it might end up being a quarter sandwich even!)
anyways... hasta luego!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
40... leaving in 6 days?!!?
today was an experience!! my family took me to isla de canyis (canyis island). let me tell you how i got there. first of all, there were too many of us, so we had to take the farm truck. this is a suzuki truck thats used to transport cows everywhere. but instead of the cows, us kids sat back there-- my two host siblings, my friend rachel, and me. my host parents brought chairs to the back so that it would be a little more comfortable. they were the kiddie chairs, like a mini mickey mouse chair, and a pink fluffy chair, and they were soo small i barely fit my butt into them! but better the floor none the less. so we sat back tehre, looking so funny, for an hour and a half. in reality, though, i really did enjoy the ride. the endless hills are just so gorgeous and i got to see them all. and on the way back we had a sunset ride, and watched the sun go behind the hills. really pretty. really rare. really awesome.
anyways, back to my journey. when we got to the island, i was told we had to take a small boat to the island. i was not told that we had to walk through knee-deep mud to get to the boat. but we did. so i did it. and i was a mess. but it was an experience. there were crabs running everywhere! that was the worst part! but it seemed like some mystical experience going through all these trees and mud and water. my host mom said it was like one of those magical ride at disney world (the one place she has been to in the US), but she was compeltely right. it was like one of those scary canoe rides. but it wasnt a ride. it was real. the boat was so shabby and im so happy it didnt break down. this one guy has the job of bringing island people back and forth between land and home. (about 2000 people live on the island, and need to get out sometimes i can imagine). so when we reached the island, i was happy i didnt arrive wet from a boat flip, and from there we got on island transportation.
and by island transportation, i mean it was an ooolllllddd run down pick up truck that drives everyone around the island. its a super small place, only about ten minutes from one side to the other, but can still be a long walk for the visitors. so we all stood in the back of the truck (it was again the cow-like pick-up truck, i really dont know the name for what it is), and we had a fun time dodging branches and trees as the driver drove us across the island. i had some close calls, but nothing tragic!
finally we reached the house. my host fam is building a house for the whole family to share as a vacation house, but its not done yet, still under construction. itll be amazng, though. its right next to the beach, and one of the only houses on the island with indoor plumbing. we didnt spend much time there, we jsut ran the beach. it was SO pretty... pretty much deserted, untouched, natural, with a view ill never see again. and we had it to ourselves the whole time. so the kids, rachel and i jumped waves for about 2 hours, and it didnt even rain!! definitely a good time, and worth the crazy trip there.
island life was interesting to see. like i said, about 2000 people live there. everyone just works for themselves. there are small farms all over that grow rice, potatoes, corn, etc. and turkeys, roosters, chickens, and all that are always running wild just trying to escape being dinner. (but thats definitely me saying that, not the islanders!). they also run large nets in the ocean, like i saw today, to collect fish. it definitely seemed a lot easier than fishing! other than food, there is a government run school there. everyone just walks from all corners of the island. on our ride back, an old crippled man got into the ¨taxi¨with us because he was sick. he was literally using a stick as a cane, and i wanted him to go to a real hospital asap. of course he just said he needed some water and other supplies from the one small store. the kids learn how to make their own fun. it was so surprising how few people were swimming in the water... i mean they live on an ocean! but people were busy building, growing, cooking, etc. even 5 year olds were running around with machetes, ready to cut the grass. i dont think i wouldhave survived if i were placed at the school here. but it was a great experience for a day!i would definitely go back. even if i had to walk through the mud again.
when we were ready to go back, the island transportation came, brought us back to the boat, and we got back into the cow truck! and now im here. in bad need of a shower after all that mud walking and branch jumping. i only have about 6 more cold showers to go though... cant believe it. got home and ordered pizza (by order, i mean picked up.. theres no such thing as delivery here). i swear that pizza is more popular here than at home! oh, and i made strawberry short cake as dessert for the fam. it was delicious.
anyways, back to my journey. when we got to the island, i was told we had to take a small boat to the island. i was not told that we had to walk through knee-deep mud to get to the boat. but we did. so i did it. and i was a mess. but it was an experience. there were crabs running everywhere! that was the worst part! but it seemed like some mystical experience going through all these trees and mud and water. my host mom said it was like one of those magical ride at disney world (the one place she has been to in the US), but she was compeltely right. it was like one of those scary canoe rides. but it wasnt a ride. it was real. the boat was so shabby and im so happy it didnt break down. this one guy has the job of bringing island people back and forth between land and home. (about 2000 people live on the island, and need to get out sometimes i can imagine). so when we reached the island, i was happy i didnt arrive wet from a boat flip, and from there we got on island transportation.
and by island transportation, i mean it was an ooolllllddd run down pick up truck that drives everyone around the island. its a super small place, only about ten minutes from one side to the other, but can still be a long walk for the visitors. so we all stood in the back of the truck (it was again the cow-like pick-up truck, i really dont know the name for what it is), and we had a fun time dodging branches and trees as the driver drove us across the island. i had some close calls, but nothing tragic!
finally we reached the house. my host fam is building a house for the whole family to share as a vacation house, but its not done yet, still under construction. itll be amazng, though. its right next to the beach, and one of the only houses on the island with indoor plumbing. we didnt spend much time there, we jsut ran the beach. it was SO pretty... pretty much deserted, untouched, natural, with a view ill never see again. and we had it to ourselves the whole time. so the kids, rachel and i jumped waves for about 2 hours, and it didnt even rain!! definitely a good time, and worth the crazy trip there.
island life was interesting to see. like i said, about 2000 people live there. everyone just works for themselves. there are small farms all over that grow rice, potatoes, corn, etc. and turkeys, roosters, chickens, and all that are always running wild just trying to escape being dinner. (but thats definitely me saying that, not the islanders!). they also run large nets in the ocean, like i saw today, to collect fish. it definitely seemed a lot easier than fishing! other than food, there is a government run school there. everyone just walks from all corners of the island. on our ride back, an old crippled man got into the ¨taxi¨with us because he was sick. he was literally using a stick as a cane, and i wanted him to go to a real hospital asap. of course he just said he needed some water and other supplies from the one small store. the kids learn how to make their own fun. it was so surprising how few people were swimming in the water... i mean they live on an ocean! but people were busy building, growing, cooking, etc. even 5 year olds were running around with machetes, ready to cut the grass. i dont think i wouldhave survived if i were placed at the school here. but it was a great experience for a day!i would definitely go back. even if i had to walk through the mud again.
when we were ready to go back, the island transportation came, brought us back to the boat, and we got back into the cow truck! and now im here. in bad need of a shower after all that mud walking and branch jumping. i only have about 6 more cold showers to go though... cant believe it. got home and ordered pizza (by order, i mean picked up.. theres no such thing as delivery here). i swear that pizza is more popular here than at home! oh, and i made strawberry short cake as dessert for the fam. it was delicious.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
39
more culture:
31. the indiginous culture: a quote from my host dad-- ¨theyre more like mexican families.¨i dont really knows what this means for sure, but he says there is a lot of machismo. and i can see that. they are distinguished only by the women´s clothing. the females all wear an indiginous dress, its pretty long, and always a bright color, with a small pattern along the hemmings. ill try to get a picture. the dresses are not exactly ugly, but they definitely stand out. the males do not wear anything different than the rest ofthe country. the females do all the cleaning and cooking, and the men usually drink all day and do nothing, unless they work on a farm. the kids do go to school with the rest of the country, and the females do have to wear the school uniform, not their usual attire. but the country does not view these people as bad, or any different. everyone interacts very friendly.
32. ´fondos´are very typical. its basically a very cheap restaurant. they sell all the typical panamanian foods, including meat, hoaldras, corn tortillas, chicha, etc. my family took me to eat at one for the experience (they dont eat there very often), and for the five of us to eat a meal, it cost less than 7 dollars. but, as i found out later, the fondos use old oil that is donated by townspeople when they are done using it. so everything fried is fried in used oil (and everything is fried.) i dont think about that. gotta do as the panamanians do i guess?
33. im gonna explain the washing machine we have--its one of the better ones of the country. first, you fill it with water, usually using a bucket, manually. then you put some clothes in (doesnt fit much), and put some powder soap in. you turn it on, and then let it wash for about 10 minutes. after that, you have to take out each piece of clothing individually, and wash it in clean water with this solution that gets rid of the soap. we just do this part in the sink. then you put the clothes into this spinner thing, i really dont know what else to call it. it spins the clothes really fast so that they dry more quickly. but theyre not completely dry, so then we put them on the clothesline to dry.
34. the police here are crazy. they pull anyone over for anything. and if theyre bored, they make up a ticket to give you. some people say this happens in the US, but after seeing it here in panama, i say we have it good over there.
35. mamones-chinos-- i posted a picture of these. theyre the crazy wild red ball things. first you pick some off the trees. then you bite into the shell (which is soft), then you get the seed out. i find this part very hard because usually the juice squirts all over when i do this. and then you suck on the seed part for the yummy jelly type stuff that it around it. and when youre bored with the seed, or you ate all the jelly, just throw the seed on the side of the street.
31. the indiginous culture: a quote from my host dad-- ¨theyre more like mexican families.¨i dont really knows what this means for sure, but he says there is a lot of machismo. and i can see that. they are distinguished only by the women´s clothing. the females all wear an indiginous dress, its pretty long, and always a bright color, with a small pattern along the hemmings. ill try to get a picture. the dresses are not exactly ugly, but they definitely stand out. the males do not wear anything different than the rest ofthe country. the females do all the cleaning and cooking, and the men usually drink all day and do nothing, unless they work on a farm. the kids do go to school with the rest of the country, and the females do have to wear the school uniform, not their usual attire. but the country does not view these people as bad, or any different. everyone interacts very friendly.
32. ´fondos´are very typical. its basically a very cheap restaurant. they sell all the typical panamanian foods, including meat, hoaldras, corn tortillas, chicha, etc. my family took me to eat at one for the experience (they dont eat there very often), and for the five of us to eat a meal, it cost less than 7 dollars. but, as i found out later, the fondos use old oil that is donated by townspeople when they are done using it. so everything fried is fried in used oil (and everything is fried.) i dont think about that. gotta do as the panamanians do i guess?
33. im gonna explain the washing machine we have--its one of the better ones of the country. first, you fill it with water, usually using a bucket, manually. then you put some clothes in (doesnt fit much), and put some powder soap in. you turn it on, and then let it wash for about 10 minutes. after that, you have to take out each piece of clothing individually, and wash it in clean water with this solution that gets rid of the soap. we just do this part in the sink. then you put the clothes into this spinner thing, i really dont know what else to call it. it spins the clothes really fast so that they dry more quickly. but theyre not completely dry, so then we put them on the clothesline to dry.
34. the police here are crazy. they pull anyone over for anything. and if theyre bored, they make up a ticket to give you. some people say this happens in the US, but after seeing it here in panama, i say we have it good over there.
35. mamones-chinos-- i posted a picture of these. theyre the crazy wild red ball things. first you pick some off the trees. then you bite into the shell (which is soft), then you get the seed out. i find this part very hard because usually the juice squirts all over when i do this. and then you suck on the seed part for the yummy jelly type stuff that it around it. and when youre bored with the seed, or you ate all the jelly, just throw the seed on the side of the street.
Friday, July 24, 2009
38
hey all-
wednesday was the pollera contest for santa librada. the pollera are the traditional dress of panama for the girls, and theyre beautiful. they include so much jewelery, and can cost more than $25000 for a complete, real outfit. and in order to compete, these dresses really are real. the girls walk up and down the runway, dancing the typical dance, and model the dress for the judges. the judges feel the stitching, to see how intricate it was. and the winner gets a whole lotta money (even in US standards). the whole thing took all afternoon. and then after the winner was decided, there was a parade. well, it was a panamanian parade, and so it was 2 floats, but they were really good. everyone flooded the streets to see these girls modeling their dresses. the winner had her own float, and the runners-up had another. there was a band, and really pretty fireworks. they set off the fireworks just about ten feet away from everyone, its so crazy! i really thought something would light on fire--one of the buildings if not one of the people. someone did say the church lit on fire a couple of years ago. they moved the fireworks with the parade, so they would always set them off right before the floats came by. but they are a lot prettier literally right above my head.
thursday i went to school, and around 1:00 the principal decided that school should get out at 4 for the last day of santa librada. so all the kids were basically stranded at the school at 4 because no one had rides home or anywhere to go. my host sister and i were lucky that my host mom was on lunch break. 2 hours later, when we were close to the school, i saw kids still waiting!! pobrecitos. but, when we got home i decided to take advantage of the time, and i took my host siblings to the festival, since they had not gone yet. i felt like such a mom! i took them to the bull fight first, bought them respado (really good cold drink made with frozen ice, flavoring, and malt) and popcorn. the bull fighting was a lot different than i imagined, and definitely not the same as it is in spain. they take the bull out, a man and the bull chase each otehr around for a while, and then thats it. they never kill the bull (which is good, i dont think i could have handled it), and sometimes people will come out riding the bull to see how long they will last. its definitely a smaller version of the spanish tradition, but still cool to see. then the kids got bored, so i brought them out to the street, where there was a very tiny amusement park. they each got to ride 4 rides, and 5 if they behaved well (im telling you, such a mom!) of course they got the 5th, even though they got annoying. and then we bought some dinner and each kid got to pick out something to buy, because there were street vendors everywhere, and the kids wanted everything. then they started fighting, so i took them home. i didnt want to be mom anymore. espcially a spanish speaking one. i was gonna go to the baile that night, because my host grandparents were going. but my friends were really worn out and didnt want to go. i was kinda sad, but thats all right. ive experienced it before. so my friends and i just walked around for a while, seeing everything tehre was to see, and then headed home around midnight.
so, santa librada ended. today they cleaned everything up off the streets, and the town is back to normal. i dont teach fridays, so i went to the beach with 2 other volunteers. but when we got there, the water was literally so dirty and so mucky there werent even waves until about a half mile out! and then, of course, it started raining. so we headed home. ive noticed that most of the panamanian beaches are dirty run down. when it cleared up i took my host brother to the pool. im exhuasted today for some reason, and so itll be an early night. dont have plans for tomorrow, either! but its the last weekend here with my host fam, and so i just wanna spend some time with them!
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i have lots of culture to add today! (ive been keeping a list, so read up)
23. taxi rides cost a dollar to get pretty much anywhere. sometimes, 1.25, but thats the maximum.
24. we eat mangos from the trees.
25. the bedsheets are never fit to the bed. at first i thought i just had old sheets, but no. theyre all like that. so in the morning, i always end up on the mattress because of course they come loose in the middle of the night!
26. people here say ¨que pretty!¨ (how pretty) as part of theyre everyday phrases. i just find it so funny, because theyre taking an english word, and just adapting it to their language, and it sounds so awkward to me in the middle of a bunch of spanish. ´ay madre,´is another popular phrase that i find funny.
27. panamanians dont really say ´s´at the end of their words. for example, ´mas o menos´really sounds like ´ma o meno.´made the language a little difficult to understand at first.
28. ´patacones´are fried plantaines. theyre SO good, SO much better than french fries!
29. they eat iguanas here!
30. when someone finds out that i wear contacts, they immediately ask what color my real eyes are--literally, everyone asks. contacts are worn to change eye color here, not to correct vision. they dont get why i wear them.
--------
(more to come!)
wednesday was the pollera contest for santa librada. the pollera are the traditional dress of panama for the girls, and theyre beautiful. they include so much jewelery, and can cost more than $25000 for a complete, real outfit. and in order to compete, these dresses really are real. the girls walk up and down the runway, dancing the typical dance, and model the dress for the judges. the judges feel the stitching, to see how intricate it was. and the winner gets a whole lotta money (even in US standards). the whole thing took all afternoon. and then after the winner was decided, there was a parade. well, it was a panamanian parade, and so it was 2 floats, but they were really good. everyone flooded the streets to see these girls modeling their dresses. the winner had her own float, and the runners-up had another. there was a band, and really pretty fireworks. they set off the fireworks just about ten feet away from everyone, its so crazy! i really thought something would light on fire--one of the buildings if not one of the people. someone did say the church lit on fire a couple of years ago. they moved the fireworks with the parade, so they would always set them off right before the floats came by. but they are a lot prettier literally right above my head.
thursday i went to school, and around 1:00 the principal decided that school should get out at 4 for the last day of santa librada. so all the kids were basically stranded at the school at 4 because no one had rides home or anywhere to go. my host sister and i were lucky that my host mom was on lunch break. 2 hours later, when we were close to the school, i saw kids still waiting!! pobrecitos. but, when we got home i decided to take advantage of the time, and i took my host siblings to the festival, since they had not gone yet. i felt like such a mom! i took them to the bull fight first, bought them respado (really good cold drink made with frozen ice, flavoring, and malt) and popcorn. the bull fighting was a lot different than i imagined, and definitely not the same as it is in spain. they take the bull out, a man and the bull chase each otehr around for a while, and then thats it. they never kill the bull (which is good, i dont think i could have handled it), and sometimes people will come out riding the bull to see how long they will last. its definitely a smaller version of the spanish tradition, but still cool to see. then the kids got bored, so i brought them out to the street, where there was a very tiny amusement park. they each got to ride 4 rides, and 5 if they behaved well (im telling you, such a mom!) of course they got the 5th, even though they got annoying. and then we bought some dinner and each kid got to pick out something to buy, because there were street vendors everywhere, and the kids wanted everything. then they started fighting, so i took them home. i didnt want to be mom anymore. espcially a spanish speaking one. i was gonna go to the baile that night, because my host grandparents were going. but my friends were really worn out and didnt want to go. i was kinda sad, but thats all right. ive experienced it before. so my friends and i just walked around for a while, seeing everything tehre was to see, and then headed home around midnight.
so, santa librada ended. today they cleaned everything up off the streets, and the town is back to normal. i dont teach fridays, so i went to the beach with 2 other volunteers. but when we got there, the water was literally so dirty and so mucky there werent even waves until about a half mile out! and then, of course, it started raining. so we headed home. ive noticed that most of the panamanian beaches are dirty run down. when it cleared up i took my host brother to the pool. im exhuasted today for some reason, and so itll be an early night. dont have plans for tomorrow, either! but its the last weekend here with my host fam, and so i just wanna spend some time with them!
-----
i have lots of culture to add today! (ive been keeping a list, so read up)
23. taxi rides cost a dollar to get pretty much anywhere. sometimes, 1.25, but thats the maximum.
24. we eat mangos from the trees.
25. the bedsheets are never fit to the bed. at first i thought i just had old sheets, but no. theyre all like that. so in the morning, i always end up on the mattress because of course they come loose in the middle of the night!
26. people here say ¨que pretty!¨ (how pretty) as part of theyre everyday phrases. i just find it so funny, because theyre taking an english word, and just adapting it to their language, and it sounds so awkward to me in the middle of a bunch of spanish. ´ay madre,´is another popular phrase that i find funny.
27. panamanians dont really say ´s´at the end of their words. for example, ´mas o menos´really sounds like ´ma o meno.´made the language a little difficult to understand at first.
28. ´patacones´are fried plantaines. theyre SO good, SO much better than french fries!
29. they eat iguanas here!
30. when someone finds out that i wear contacts, they immediately ask what color my real eyes are--literally, everyone asks. contacts are worn to change eye color here, not to correct vision. they dont get why i wear them.
--------
(more to come!)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
the 35th day.
went to the santa librada festivities last night. its a bunch of people riding around on horses while drinking. and cows are everywhere. and so are santa librada flags, and fireworks. they sure do love their fireworks here, but not the pretty ones, just the noisy ones. the streets are all set up with decorations and street vendors galore. at the end of the street is the club that they created just for santa librada, and is only here for the 5 days, and then theyre tearing it down. theres an area next to it thats for the ´baile´which is a dance, and panamanian singers do their thing with the accordian, while everyone else dances the funny panamanian style dance, and everyones going in circles the whole time. its not too fun to dance, but definitely hilarious to watch. we had a good time. went to both the baile and the club. on thursday my host grandparents are playing as an end to all the festivities, so im definitely looking foward to that baile. and tomorrow is a ´pollera´contest. pollera is the name for the traditional dress of the panamanian girls. these dresses can cost up to 25,o00 dollars, with all the jewels and pearls. ive seen fake ones, and even those are incredible. but girls are coming from all over the country to model their polleras, and this is apparently an amazing part of santa librada.
other than these happenings, im back to teaching, and loving it more each day. im really getting used to the kids, and learning how to tame their crazyness to some level. i started teaching the alphabet today, because i learned that none of the kids know past the letter G. so their homework tonight is to learn, review and memorize letters through K, and a word that starts with each of those letters. tomorrow is just more of all this, teaching and santa librada!
other than these happenings, im back to teaching, and loving it more each day. im really getting used to the kids, and learning how to tame their crazyness to some level. i started teaching the alphabet today, because i learned that none of the kids know past the letter G. so their homework tonight is to learn, review and memorize letters through K, and a word that starts with each of those letters. tomorrow is just more of all this, teaching and santa librada!
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